People all over the world ask Essity to stop wiping away the Great Northern Forest

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Press release - 26 October, 2017

Stockholm, 26 October 2017 – Greenpeace Nordic representatives and Sámi artist, Sofia Jannok delivered the signatures of almost a quarter of a million people to Essity in Stockholm today. Signatories are asking Essity to clean up its supply chain and ensure that the company is not involved in the destruction of the last critical forest landscapes in the Great Northern Forest.

“The world’s second-largest tissue producer needs take responsibility for the protection of these critically important forests. People all over the world - tissue and toilet-paper consumers - are telling Essity that the last critical forest landscapes should not become toilet paper.”

The 244 627 signatures were delivered to Essity by Greenpeace Nordic and Sofia Jannok, a twice-Grammy-nominated Sámi artist from Sweden. Essity received the petition in Stockholm at the headquarters of the company on the same day that the company announced its Q3 results.

Sofia Jannok, Sami artist and environmentalist said:

“Standing up for the indigenous peoples is to stand up for The Great Northern Forest. Protecting critical forest landscapes is not only vital for the Sámi community, but for all humanity. We all depend on the forest.”

The report, Wiping Away the Boreal published on 27 September by Greenpeace International shows the connection between Essity and destruction of critical forest landscapes of the Great Northern Forest in Sweden, Finland and Russia. [1]

In Sweden, Essity sources its pulp from SCA Östrand pulp mill. Some of the raw material for the pulp comes from areas which have been identified by the Swedish authorities as having ‘particularly high ecological preservation values’. SCA is also planting non-native lodgepole pine, which threatens the indigenous Sámi people’s way of life by decreasing access to natural grazing areas for their reindeer. [2]

Erika Bjureby continued:

“It’s not illegal to chop down the last critical forest landscapes, but it is brutal. That is exactly why we need a proper process for defining the areas in need of legal protection. The logging in these forest areas must stop now. We cannot engage in wordplay while harvesters are actively cutting down precious forested areas. Essity needs to take action and show how they are committed to forest protection before these biodiverse habitats are ripped to pieces.”

ENDS

Photo and video:

Images of the critical forest landscapes logged by Essity’s supplier SCA in Jämtland, Sweden can be seen here.